Genetic polymorphisms of pharmacogenomic VIP variants in Li nationality of southern China.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to screen members of the Li nationality in southern China for genotype frequencies of VIP variants and to determine differences between the Li ethnicity and global human population samples in HapMap.

METHODS: In this study, we genotyped 77 very important pharmacogenetic (VIP) variants selected from the pharmacogenomics knowledge base (PharmGKB) in members of the Li population and compared our data with other eleven populations from the HapMap data set.

RESULTS: Our results showed that VDR rs1540339, VKORC1 rs9934438, and MTHFR rs1801133 were most different in Li compared with most of the eleven populations from the HapMap data set. Furthermore, population structure and F-statistics (Fst) analysis also showed differences between the Li and other HapMap populations, and the results suggest that the Li are most genetically similar to the CHD population, and the least similar to the YRI in HapMap.

CONCLUSIONS: The findings of our study complement the pharmacogenomics database with information on members of the Li ethnicity and provide a stronger scientific basis for safer drug administration, which may help clinicians to predict individual drug responses, thereby avoiding the risk of adverse effects and optimizing efficacy in this population.